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Target plans to expand the floor space of 40 of its planned 124 stores that are set to start opening in Canada in the coming weeks, adding a total of 600,000 square feet to the former Zellers stores as part of its $1.5 billion Canada investment. The locations and leases of the Zellers stores were attractive, said CFO John Mulligan, but most were smaller than Target's typical stores and in need of renovation.

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Toys R Us' decision this week to cut its free-shipping minimum order amount from $49 to $19 and Target's move early this year to drop its minimum order to $25 can be seen as investments, experts said. "When we look at a guest who shops our stores routinely, if we can convert them and get them to shop online, automatically we get more sales because they're shopping online," said John Mulligan, Target's chief financial officer.

Sears Canada saw apparel sales rise in the fourth quarter, but overall same-store sales fell 3.8% in the period as the retailer struggled to boost business one year into a three-year turnaround plan. "We are going to continue to evaluate our assets and make sure that we are maximizing those behind our trading strategy, and we are going to continue to evaluate our business model," said CEO Calvin McDonald.

The closure of high-profile retail chains including Blockbuster, HMV and Jessops could cause high-street store closures in the UK to double to 28 per day this year, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Local Data Company. Card shops, computer game stores and health food stores closed the most locations, the report said, and payday loan outlets and pound shops are growing the fastest.

Target's plan to open about 200 stores in Canada in the coming years is likely to eventually add about $6 billion in annual sales and take the retail chain's revenue past the $100 billion mark for the first time, Chief Financial Officer Douglas Scovanner said Wednesday. In January, Target announced plans to take over leases at 220 Zellers stores from owner Hudson's Bay in a deal valued at $1.83 billion, and start turning them into Target stores in 2013.